THE FOLLOWING REVIEW CONTAINS SPOILERS OF THE DISCUSSED FILM. READERS DISCRETION IS ADVISED.
If there is anything I’ve learned with movies is that quality can outweigh quantity. In 2019, DC’s Shazam! was one of the few superhero flicks to not gross $1 billion at the box office but it never took away how naturally entertaining it was and still is. Knowing how popular the character grew to be since then, it became a sweet relief to see this hero on the big screen once again.
PLOT
The sequel Fury of the Gods takes place 4 years after Billy Batson was chosen to be the champion of the titular wizard. Granted multiple abilities (Solomon’s wisdom, Hercules’ strength, Atlas’ stamina, Zeus’ power, Achilles’ courage and Mercury’s speed), he would share it with his foster siblings (Mary Bromfield, Eugene Choi, Darla Dudley, Freddy Freeman and Pedro Peña) and together, they would use it to defeat Thaddeus Sivana (Mark Strong) and re-imprison the Seven Deadly Sins. Ever since they became a team of heroes, Billy has been struggling to keep them on the same page due to all growing up and have other interests. Although Freddy enjoys doing solo acts as a hero, Mary expresses resentment for her secret life preventing her from going to college. While having a pleasant dream, Billy gets contacted by the wizard who was presumed dead. Instead, he’s been held prisoner by Atlas’ daughters Kalypso (whose capable of mind control) and Hespera (who can wield the primordial forces of the elements). They recently regained and repaired the magical staff that granted Billy his powers who initially broke it to prevent Sivana from using it. Knowing that danger is coming, Batson warns his team of what they’re in for. Freddy would be the last to know because at school, he would fall for a girl named Anne. When he chooses to reveal his super persona to her, he would encounter Kalypso & Hespera who happen to be Anne’s sisters. This would reveal that Anne is Anthea, who can warp reality and manipulate structures to her liking. Upon arrival, Hespera would use the staff to steal Freddy’s powers. When the Shazamily tries to save him, after Billy quickly deduces Anne is Anthea, the goddesses imprison him with the wizard and place a dome around the city of Philadelphia. When regrouping at the Rock of Eternity, Billy uses the sentient letter nicknamed Steve to draft a letter to the daughters of Atlas, negotiating Freddy’s return. When the Shazamily encounters them again, Pedro would lose his powers as well but Hespera would get captured. This would only be part of the plan as upon breaking out, she would steal a golden apple that contains the seed to the Tree of Life, intending to revive her home Mount Olympus. Anthea would help Freddy and the Wizard escape. On the way out, Freddy steals the apple and regains his powers. With the help of the Shazamily, they escape Mount Olympus and return to their foster home. However, they inadvertently reveal their secret identities to their foster parents Victor and Rosa Vasquez (Cooper Andrews & Marta Milans). However, Kalypso would summon the dragon Ladon to retrieve the apple, destroying the Vasquez home in the process. Everyone but Billy lose their powers during the skirmish and once she gets the Apple back, she plants the tree at Citizens Bank Park to destroy Earth, unleashing multiple monsters in the process. When her sisters object to her plan, she mortally wounds Hespera and de-powers Anthea. Worried that he can’t defeat Kalypso, Billy begs the Wizard to revoke his powers, but the latter assured him he is worthy of them. As he keeps on fighting, his siblings would fend off the various monsters with unicorns. Billy would also convince Hespera to help him stop her sister. Noticing the dome reacting violently to his lightning, he lures Kalypso back to the park to isolate her. This works when Hespera shrinks the dome to contain them both. Billy would end the fight by overloading the staff with his lightning. This would kill Kalypso, the tree, Ladon and the remaining army of monsters, at the cost of his own life. As Hespera would succumb to her wounds, she would acknowledge Batson as a true god. As Anthea and the Vasquez family would bury him at the Gods’ Realm, Wonder Woman (Gal Gadot) would repair the staff to revive the said realm. This would restore Anthea’s power and resurrect Billy in the process. This was possible since she was the only being left with godly powers. Quickly upon revival, Billy would restore his siblings’ powers. As the Shazamily rebuild their home, Anthea and the Wizard decide to take residence on Earth. The latter would also confirm Billy’s super name to be his. The film would end in a mid credit scene, showing Shazam get recruited by Emilia Harcourt (Jennifer Holland) & John Economos (Steve Agee) on behalf of Amanda Waller to join the Justice Society. There would also be a post credit scene showing Mister Mind, promising an imprisoned Sivana that he is at the brink of a breakthrough of a master plan before slithering away again.
THOUGHTS
The best way to describe this film is through Pros and Cons.
PROS: A lot of people deemed this film pointless upon hearing the DC Universe would go through a reset by the end of 2023. Because I still had a soft spot for the first film, I didn’t really think of it that way. Personally, I would say the post credit scenes would be pointless because it makes a pretty odd cliffhanger. When you’re not thinking of that, you’re still in for one hell of a ride. When I look back at this film, I deeply believe Director David F. Sandberg gives another general blast of a superhero flick. The newly designed costumes the heroes get to wear felt fresh, the set pieces and visual effects make everything of this comic book setting come alive. You really can't go wrong with dragons and it is no exception with Ladon because that creature scared the crap out of me way more than the other hellacious monsters that got unleashed. Apart from that, the visuals also make every fight scene investing as expected. Whether it is the bridge scene, to the public streets, to the park, my eyes were glued in throughout and it feels right for an action film. For some reason, I felt more hooked with Christophe Beck's score more than what Benjamin Wallfisch respectfully contributed the first time around. If anything, I would say the former does an expert job in making the music fun yet exciting to hear, which is the exact vibe this movie is going for. While I don't think this sequel is overall better than the first, my respect for it mostly goes to the bold theme of being the best version of yourself which suits the tone thanks to a stacked ensemble. The dual performance of Billy is definitely the stronghold of this film thanks to both Asher Angel & Zachary Levi handling the depth so well. We admire Batson this time around because he's grateful to finally have found a family after being abandoned by his parents and is afraid of losing it as he gets older. The funny thing about him is that he still has a lot to learn fro his age which is a good hing because the more you learn, the more responsible you become. Seeing that each of his siblings have different interests as they're getting older too, he worries he isn't a good leader. Little does he understand he already became one just for sharing his power. He thinks he doesn't know right and wrong, but he always does because he always focuses on how to overcome the odds. He ended up being recruited to join the JSA in the end because they know how valuable of a team player he is. Knowing that so many people respect his will proves he has no reason to doubt himself. His selflessness felt uncanny when he sacrificed himself to defeat Kalypso because that is how determined he was to protect his family. Now that he has a second chance at life, we all know wasting it ain't on his mind but only cherish. The best easter egg of this movie has to be the cameo of the original Cpatain Marvel actor Michael Gray praising his actions, which felt like a passing of the torch. To top it off, it's pretty crazy that his own crush Wonder Woman saved his life which will definitely be impossible for him to get over. On the bright side, it is great to know he has a family that makes his heart stronger everyday. While Adam Brody nails Freddy's charm, the groundwork of the character definitely goes to Jack Dylan Grazer who proves to have a bigger will than his family realizes. Every time he is in danger, he doesn't put poor use of his power but great instead. The kid was getting tortured by Kalypso and lasted longer than she expected which says a lot. It was easy for him to be head over heels for Anthea because he was still comfortable enough to be himself around her. Speaking of which, Rachel Zegler made a memorable impression in the role of the youngest daughter of Atlas. She stood out from her sisters because she was able to see the humanity of Earth, sympathetic enough to see it didn't deserve anymore destruction. She would fall for Freddy in return because he reminded her that the humanity within is what makes your life worth it. Seeing how protective they were towards each other, I see they'll be a unit for a long while. Freddy may be the superhero fanatic but if any one of his foster siblings have the most wisdom, it has to be Mary. Getting to play both her human and super self, Grace Fulton shows her as the collected one whose now balancing her own responsibilities as an adult. She chose to stay with the Shazamily because she knows there is better success with a bigger team. Had she not stayed, I don't think Billy would push himself to be more mature. I'm sure I wasn't the only one who thought the Wizard was gone for good, so it was a pleasant welcome for Djimon Hounsou to make a return. His bickering with Freddy definitely stood out because you understand how frustrated he is with the fate of the world at stake due to his protege making a mistake. Had he told him not to destroy it, this adventure definitely would've not happened. However, he definitely came through in being a good mentor by telling Batson he was always worthy because of how his selflessness proves how wise he is deep down. It is smart for him to take the staff because the last thing we need is history to repeat itself. Going into the rest of the Shazamily, I still dug Ross Butler & Ian Chen still made Eugene interesting because his clumsiness lessens from the more he learns as well. I thought it was smart of him to go over the hundreds of doors in the Rock of Eternity because you got to know your surroundings and advantages. It's a shame he didn't think of this when Ladon invaded. Thanks to the duo of Meagan Good & Faithe Herman, they still had us enjoy Darla for her adorability match her energy. And I know wasn't the only one when she told a unicorn to 'Taste the rainbow' after feeding it Skittles. I also still enjoyed DJ Cotrona & Jovan Armand express Pedro to be the shy and perceptive one, which can be relatable as those feelings come from him being closeted. Luckily, the fam saw the signs and still loved him for who he is. I wish every family can be like that. While I still find it disappointed we never saw Billy fight his true rival Black Adam, nor did he have the chance to fight Mister Mind's Monster Society, that didn't mean the daughters of Atlas packed a wallop. Helen Mirren definitely made Hespera a distinguishable figure for being ruthless but is focused on her goals. That's where she differs from Kalypso, whereas Lucy Liu expresses her to be nothing but spiteful. Kalyspo took it the worst when she lost her father and refused to let it be in vein, resulting in her to act the most sadistic of sisters. Hespera thankfully did the right thing in helping Shazam win the fight against her sister because she knew she wouldn't stop until she succeeded. In her dying breath, she calls him a true god solely off of his omni-benevolence. If more people were supremely good like him, this world would be much more harmonious than we try to make it.CONS: This film was generally good, but there were a bunch of things that bothered way more than the post credit stuff. To get it out of the way, I don't understand why Billy was on his own in the first place. Yes even he would want to have me-time, but it is so out of character for him when he spent the first half of the movie trying to keep his family together. And how does he not know of the Justice Society before being recruited? I know that team wasn't introduced until Black Adam but since Freddy is the fanatic of superheroes, I feel like that should've been brought up in at least one convo. Going back from the top, isn't it a little odd for it to take so long of Hespera & Kalyspo to find the staff? It really should not have taken them 4 years if they got their powers back. That's more confusing than them walking into the museum without being checked/stopped by guards. If they killed them, seeing that would've made their introduction more memorable. They already make sure Kalypso is the worst sister for shoving a kid, but where was that kid's parents? Sure the parents are probably at another part of the room, but it's so weird they don't keep their eye on the boy from afar. On top of that, how come no one from the Shazamily confiscated the than broken staff after dealing with Sivana and the Sins? If not Billy, then either Freddy or Mary should've taken it to avoid it being in the wrong hands. And why is it a habit for the Shazamily to turn while out/inside the house? Yes Victor wasn't suspicious, but they're too lucky Rosa wasn't either. And its gets crazier when realizing no one in their neighborhood notices either. They even mess up on not taking turns watching Hespera. Again, I feel like Mary should've brought that up to be ahead of the game if Billy was never gonna think about it. I'm even on Mary's side when she points out Billy has to be more mature as he's getting older, but if that's true, she should tel everyone else to chip in on rent when claiming Victor & Rosa can barely pay rent. I then kept wondering how is Freddy still getting bullied at school after having lunch with not just his super family but freaking Superman? He did say knowing cool people doesn't make you cool, but I disagree. Freddy could literally threaten them in his super persona to be left alone. He can either do that or have Billy do something about it. Because if Billy is still in touch with Superman, he could ask his help to give the bullies a pep talk. Moving on, I am glad Billy told Freddy first about his wizard dream but if he really wanted on the know of what they were in for, he should swept him off his feet and take him home. And if Freddy were to fight back, it would've been a very creative fight scene. I don't blame Hespera telling Anthea to get involved in the action, so we can see how her powers work, but I found that honestly pointless since she could use staff to take Billy's power. Also, how come Victor and Rosa weren't looking for the kids after the dome emerged? Even if they came home before they got started, they should've been a little concerned of Freddy's whereabouts. Hespera was on the right to say her Kalyspo's attitude was echoing their Uncle Hades, but she kinda loses the right to say that when she turned museum guests into stone just to get the staff. I also think Kalypso should've just double checked on killing her since the dome was still surrounding the city after being stabbed. I don't even think it was smart for Anthea to try to talk to Kalypso after she already took her powers. Because of me feeling that way, she was way too lucky for Billy to save her. And lastly, I was laughing with the use of Darla's Skittles winning over unicorns, but was the dominant one really the only one needed to win over all of them? I feel like the whole herd should've had some for a precautionary sake. In short, Shazam! Fury of the Gods is another entertaining super hero flick that filled us up with a fair amount of shock and joy. If you enjoyed the first film, it feels like a no brainer you’ll like this too.
Comments